Rangers of Konoha Gulch
by Captain Ash
Summary: It's said that the West was built on legends. Tall tales that help us make sense of things too great... or too terrifying to believe. However the thing about legends is that sometimes... they're true.
1. Prologue

Rangers of Konoha Gulch

Naruto and all related characters belong to Masashi Kishimoto.

* * *

The sun beat down on the arid landscape. A lone cowboy walked up to a small train station and entered the train without speaking a word. He took a seat as the steam engine left the station, smoke flowing from it. He had pale skin and the bottom half of his face was covered with a beige colored bandanna. He wore a navy-blue attire, consisting of a shirt, vest, and trench-coat with a grey stetson hat on his head. He also has a gun belt with twin guns on each hip, and a large cleaver-like sword on his back. He could hear the idle chitchat of the people behind him as he looked out his window at the landscape rushing past. He saw men on horses riding in the distance and a couple of stage coaches. He sighed as he closed his eyes, getting some sleep as the train chugged along.

The cowboy was jostled awake by the train stopping. Everyone disembarked into the sleepy frontier town, the blue clad cowboy included. The cowboy headed straight for the nearby saloon. He walked in and saw an old coot with spiky white hair and a long ponytail fondling a girl on a couch in the corner of the bar. The old man saw the navy dressed stranger out of the corner of his eye and called out to him.

"Hey now! You must be Zabuza Momochi." The older man said as he walked up. He wore a simple attire of a red vest, and olive green shirt and pants.

"Sometimes." The younger man said as he walked out of the bar with the other man.

"Name's Jiraiya. Your friends from Kiri hired me to guide you." Jiraiya said as he mounted his horse.

"They ain't my friends but pleased to meet you." Zabuza said as he hopped on a horse of his own. The two rode out of the small town as fast as they could, Jiraiya keeping pace with Zabuza.

"So, it's Fort Uzu you wanna visit Mr. Momochi?" Jiraiya asked as he caught up with Zabuza

"That's right." The swordsman said as he kept riding.

"Ain't taken nobody up to the Fort in a long time. Strange place for a decent fella to visit, if you don't mind me sayin'." The older man said, attempting some conversation.

"Who said I was a decent fella?" Zabuza replied, giving the other man a suspicious look.

"It's been abandoned for years now. Folks say it was built during the War. All kinds of soldiers around back then." Jiraiya said, ignoring the look he was receiving.

"Why'd they leave?" Zabuza asked, his brow raised.

"I ain't entirely sure. I heard they had to go up North to fight Natives. Or maybe they got tired of being soldiers and went looking for gold, you  
know how things are. So what are you doing up at the Fort?" The older man asked as they got a little closer to the hill where the fort was located.

"I'm looking for an old friend." Zabuza replied simply.

"Well, like I says, you ain't gonna find may folk round those parts these days. And those you do find are 'bout as sociable as an ulcerated back  
tooth. I mean, I ain't one to judge a man by the company he keeps, but..." Jiraiya started, but was cut off by his client.

"Well, we ain't been friends for a long time." Zabuza replied in a dark tone. Jiraiya remained silent for a few moments, pondering the other man's words.

"Are you planning on spending any time in Konoha Gulch, Mr. Momochi?" Jiraiya asked, breaking the silence and changing the subject.

"I doubt it. I ain't planning on staying very long." The swordsman said in a dry tone.

"Well, if you're fixin' for some female company, you can do a lot worse than Konoha Gulch." The older man replied with a shrug of his shoulders.

"I'm a busy man, I'm afraid." Zabuza replied, having never cared much for hookers as he was sure that was what Jiraiya was implying.

"Ain't we all? Yeah, so it was the Mayor who hired me. Hiruzen Sarutobi, he's a good friend of mine. You know him?" Jiraiya said as they neared Fort Uzu.

"I think I heard his name." Zabuza replied, his gaze fixed on the fort in the distance.

"Says he got a telegram from some Kiri big bugs askin' for a guide."

"That's right."

"You ain't very talkative, are you?"

"Not really."

"I'm just chewin' the fat, mister. It's how I am. I don't mean nothin' by it." Jiraiya said, sensing Zabuza's annoyance.

"Trust me. There's things you're better off not knowing." The swordsman said as he reached Fort.

"This here is what's left of Fort Uzu. Some gang rode in and took the place over." Jiraiya said as Zabuza kept his horse trotting forward.

"So I understand." The swordsman said as he glared at the fort. He heard Jiraiya offer a goodbye, but didn't respond. He had a job to do. Zabuza approached the fort's closed double-door entrance.

"Kisamel! Kisame, I've come for you! Kisame Hoshigaki come out here right now!" Zabuza called.

"Go away Zabuza! Don't make me kill you." A voice called over the walls of the old fort.

"Nobody needs to kill anyone, Kisame." Zabuza said as a blue shark-like man popped up over the wall's rim, his rifle transfixed on the swordsman below.

"You must think I was born yesterday. You always did think I was an idiot." Kisame said as he kept his rifle trained on the man below.

"That ain't fair, Kisame. You were like a brother to me. I've come to try to save you." Zabuza said as two rifle-toting henchman showed up.

"Do I look like I need saving?"

"They want to kill us all. I can help you." Zabuza said, trying to reason with his former friend and brother in arms.

"Well, you never tried to save me before. You only seemed to save yourself." Kisame said as more of his henchmen surrounded him.

"I implore you, think about this!" Zabuza pleaded as Kisame just laughed.

"HA HA! You implore me? You implore me?! You always were one for fancy words. Well, things are different now, Zabuza. Now, I'm in charge! No more Yagura,  
and no more you. Implore. Yeah, I implore you to go back and tell them to send someone just a little bit more impressive next time!" The shark-like man caclked out.

"Well then..." Zabuza said as he drew one of his pistols and reached for his sword, but was shot by a barrage of bullets by Kisame and his men.

* * *

It was near dusk as a man with silver hair, wearing a black bandanna around his face and an eye patch road up to Fort Uzu and saw Zabuza's dead body he wore a badge that was in the shape of a leaf on his green vest. Behind him were three others, younger than him and in their teens. One had black hair similar to a duck's rear end, the other had bright pink hair, and the final one was blond with three whisker marks on each of his cheeks. They all wore the same badge the eye-patched man wore.

"Naruto, Sasuke, better start digging a grave. Sakura, head back to town and let Mayor Sarutobi know Kiri's man failed. We're on our own now."

* * *

**PLEASE REVIEW PARDNERS! **


	2. Words of a Dead Man

Rangers of Konoha Gulch

Naruto and all related characters belong to Masashi Kishimoto.

* * *

It was was about an hour until sundown as a blond boy and his black haired partner dug a 6-foot deep grave. The blond wore a black bowler hat with an orange band around it, dark orange shirt, dark blue pants, and black boots. The only weapons he carried was a lever-action rifle, which sat in a holster on his back, a hunting knife on his belt. The black haired one wore a dark blue suit and white leather gloves, which to anyone else would make him look very out of place digging what amounted to a ditch. He also had a gun belt with a single pistol.

The blond was Naruto Uzumaki who, according to himself, was destined to be the greatest lawman the world had ever seen. The overly dressed one was Sasuke Uchiha, the only survivor of the worst killing spree the town of Konoha Gulch had ever had.

"Hey Mr. Hatake, I thought this Zabuza fella was supposed to take care of that there Akatsky guy." Naruto said as he and Sasuke had finished digging and went to grab the body and throw it in.

"That's Akatsuki Naruto and he was. However I assumed Kiri would be sending more men with him to do the job." Kakashi said as he read an old worn book.

"Why didn't they then?" Sasuke asked as he grabbed Zabuza's feet and Naruto grabbed his wrists.

"If I had to guess I'd say they conveniently overlooked our report saying Hoshigaki has a small army with him and just sent someone they thought was skilled enough to _possibly_ get the job done, but expendable enough to where it didn't matter if he couldn't." Kakashi said as he continued to read his book.

"What?" Naruto asked as he and Sasuke chucked the dead man into the grave and began to fill it in.

"He means they only sent Zabuza so they could say they tried to help." Sasuke said, annoyance evident in his voice. Naruto seemed to ponder this as he filled in the hole, but after a minute just shrugged and didn't bring it up any further. Naruto put Zabuza's sword in the ground as a grave marker and hopped up on his horse.

"It's gonna be dark soon, if we hurry we can make it back to town before sundown." Kakashi said as the three road off full speed.

* * *

The trio made it back to town not more than five minutes after sunset. They road up to the Ranger office, a fairly large sized building at the end of town.

"Alright you two, I need to go talk to the Mayor. You can head over to Ichiraku's if you want, I'm not gonna need you for anything else tonight." Kakashi said as he got off his horse and hitched it.

"I'm going home." Sasuke said as he rode his horse toward the town's largest and most upscale hotel, the Sharingan Suites. Named so after his families famous eyes, as his family built the hotel and once ran it. However the upkeep and running of it fell to the town after the massacre.

"Fine suit yourself! More beer for me." Naruto said as he hitched his own horse and walked down to the Ichiraku Saloon. The blond entered through the doors and smiled. After a hard days work there was nothing he loved better than having a cold glass of beer and a bowl of hot ramen. As he walked up to the bar, a blond haired and blue eyed showgirl sauntered up to him.

"How was work today Naruto? Kill any badmen?" She asked as she fluttered her eyes at him.

"Not today Ino, but there's always tomorrow. By the way have you seen that old pervert around? He's been ducking me the past week." Naruto said, annoyance evident in his voice.

"Sorry hon, he left earlier with some guy in a blue suit and hasn't come back yet." Ino said as she motioned for the barkeep to send a beer Naruto's way.

"Just my luck. I loan that old bastard some money and he up and leaves." Naruto said as he brought the glass up to his lips. Before he could even taste his drink, the glass was shattered by a bullet.

"UZUMAKI! GET OUT HERE!" A voice bellowed from outside. Naruto growled in annoyance and drew his rifle. He walked out to see none other than Mizuki the Tiger himself, wearing his trademark tiger skin coat and boots and black bandanna, with a pistol pointed directly at Naruto's head. The blond quickly ducked behind a water trough as Mizuki pulled the hammer back, barely missing the bullet.

"What's the occasion Mizuki? Last I heard you were on death row for that bank job ya tried." Naruto said from behind the trough as Mizuki just snarled at him.

"That was a rigged trial! I shouldn't have to die just for trying to take some money!" The white haired man yelled as he fired two shots at the trough.

"You killed seven people, nearly killed one! Iruka still needs a cane because of you! Yeah you're right, you shouldn't have to die, because death is too good for ya!" Naruto yelled back as he quickly popped up from behind the trough and fired off a few shots from his rifle. Mizuki dove to the side, but his right leg got shot. He turned to try and shoot Naruto, but the blond shot the gun out of his hand.

"Why'd you come back Mizuki? Why'd you escape?" Naruto said as he walked up, his gun trained on the downed man.

"I figured if I was gonna die, I'd take the sorry bastard that took me in with me. By the way, how's that little girlfriend of yours?" The outlaw chuckled darkly, pain evident in his voice.

"You leave Fu out of this!" Naruto snarled as he cocked his rifle, but Mizuki just laughed more.

"Oh, but she's already in it. Coming here wasn't my first stop. No, I made a trip by that little shack of hers, then we took a trip up to Fort Uzu. Don't worry, I heard Kisame's real gentle with the ladies! HA HA HA HA!" Mizuki laughed out, his words lined with malice.

Naruto felt hot tears in his eyes as his blood boiled. He was about to pull the trigger when he felt a hand on his shoulder. He looked to see Kakashi standing there with a look of both sympathy and understanding in his eye. Naruto took a deep breath and put his rifle away.

"Heh! Knew you wouldn't have the guts to..." Mizuki started, only to have Naruto stomp as hard as he could on the leg he shot him in, causing the outlaw to cry out in agony.

"If Fu is dead because of you, you'll wish I had pulled the trigger." Naruto growled as Kakashi dragged the man down the street to the Ranger office.

* * *

Naruto stood in the armory of the Ranger office. He put on a gunbelt, and loaded himself up with as many weapons as he could fit on his person. He wasn't going to let his beloved be at the mercy of someone like Kisame Hoshigaki.

"Naruto you can't do this alone." Kakashi said as he walked in on the blond.

"I don't see you offering to come with me." Naruto said plainly as he tried to walk past Kakashi, but the older man blocked him.

"No your not, at least not right now. I know this isn't something you want to hear right now, but you need to wait." The one eyed man said as Naruto's eyes filled with anger.

"WAIT?! Would you wait if it was your girl being held by a gang of sickos?!" Naruto yelled as Kakashi sighed.

"Naruto, you go in there half cocked like you are now and you'll end up just like Zabuza. Fu wouldn't want you throwing your life away." The Ranger Captain said as the blond glared at him.

"Then what should I do then? Just let them have their way with her? Beat her? Kill her?!" Naruto ranted as he again tried to force his way past Kakashi.

"I want you to wait until morning. Neji, Lee, Tenten, and Shikamaru will be back from Suna by then so at least then we'll have a fighting chance." Kakashi said as Naruto stood quiet for a few moments before sighing.

"Till morning. But if they aren't ready to go first thing then I'm going alone."

* * *

**PLEASE REVIEW!**


End file.
